CAPITALISM – no longer fit for purpose ?
The vast majority of humanity survive on a few dollars a day. The economic boom of the last fifty years has benefited a relatively small elite. The fossil fuel driven economy has devastated the planet. Capitalism is the most efficient creator of wealth but it has been derailed and it has led to inequality and environmental degradation on a global scale. Global warming and capitalism’s favourite progeny – globalisation – has triggered social movements, political discontent and massive migration. There are more economic and political migrants seeking greener pastures than at any time in history. Increased Government participation in the economy both directly and through regulation is required to temper the excesses of laissez-faire capitalism. Degrowth means uncoupling the link between growth and prosperity. Adam Smith’s ‘invisible hand’ has been the single biggest driver of the phenomenal economic growth enjoyed globally over the last two hundred years